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No. 4
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
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January 23 – 29, 2014
w w w . a s s o c i a t e d n e w s p a p e r s . n e t
ShawnaWalker was elected
as president of the Wayne-
Westland Community Schools
Board of Education. Walker
has served on the board since
2008.
See page 5
.
Mayor LeRoy Burcroff's
first State of the City address
continues with more details
about his plans for the city in
2014.
See page 2.
The Potters Guild has
scheduled a second Soup
Swap community art project
and food drive to benefit the
food pantry at the Plymouth
office of theSalvationArmy.
See page 3.
Students across Northville
Public Schools are honoring
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life
and legacy in a variety of
meaningful ways throughout
January.
See page 3.
The Van Buren Township
man charged with the stabbing
death of his wife has been
ordered to undergo a compe-
tency evaluationby the court.
See page 5.
Vol. 128, No. 4
Vol. 66, No. 4
Vol. 66, No. 4
Vol. 13, No. 4
Vol. 128, No. 4
Vol. 66, No. 4
Vol. 66, No. 4
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Resurfacing and repairing
work on Newburgh Road from
Palmer to Cherry Hill is
expected to begin in May and
be complete in July.
See page 5.
Judy Mardigian was elected
to serve as president of the
Plymouth Canton Board of
Education during a recent
organizational meeting of the
group.
See page 3
.
Vol. 13, No. 4
Improved customer service, re-
establishing a parks and recre-
ation program and “fast tracking”
new development in Romulus
were only a few of the many areas
of early progress detailed in the
first State of the City Address by
newMayor LeRoyD. Burcroff.
Burcroff was elected in
November after serving 16 years
on the city council. His address
focused on his 100-day plan and
beyond during a luncheon of the
Greater Romulus Chamber of
Commerce Jan. 14 at the Romulus
MarriottHotel.
Burcroff also talked about
restoring public trust in city gov-
ernment, creating a new commu-
nity outreach department, enhanc-
ing several sections of the city and
several other topics.
Customer Service
Burcroff said his combined a
business style and leadership
skills were developed duringmore
than 30 years at successful
Michigan-based industrial distrib-
utorBearing Service.
“Customer service is not a
department - it's everyone's
responsibility,” Burcroff said.
“Providing outstanding communi-
ty and customer service is the mis-
sion and purpose of local govern-
ment. It's really ourmission.”
Using a PowerPoint presenta-
tion to supplement the State of the
City Address, the mayor displayed
a flow chart of all city employees.
He introduced his new team of
department heads: Chief of Staff
Robert Dickerson, Public Safety
Director
John
Leacher,
Department of Public Services
Interim Director Bob McCraight,
Director of Community Services
Julie Wojtylko and Director of
Financial Services Debbie
Hoffman. The position of Director
of Community Development is
open. Multiple departments will
report to eachdirector.
Parks andRecreation
During the mayoral election
campaign, one of Burcroff's goals
was to open some parks and
restore recreation programs that
were closed and eliminated dur-
ing previous years' budget issues.
Already, a number of changes have
taken place to keep those goals on
track, he said.
The mayor said the city
Recreation Commission has been
reactivated as a recommending
body for programs. The ice rink at
Mary Ann Banks Park has been
See
Message,
page 2
Plymouth Township trustees
voted 5-2 last week against partici-
pating in a feasibility study for a
Plymouth Arts and Recreation
Complex (PARC) proposed at the 18-
acre site of Central Middle School in
the city.
This was the second request from
PARC supporter Don Soenen, who
again asked the board to participate
in the feasibility study regarding the
97-year-old school scheduled to be
closed by the Plymouth-Canton
school district next year.
Approval of the township would
be needed to create a taxing author-
ity to operate the type of community
center proposed. The project would
be a partnership of the city and
township and funded by a 1-mill tax
whichwould require voter approval.
Soenen explained, as he did at
themeetingNov. 22, that the $26mil-
lion project would benefit the entire
community and that there would be
no cost to the township to partici-
pate in the study. His request was
met with strong criticism from
Township Treasurer Ron Edwards
who was visibly emotional about the
request.
“If it's in the city, I want nothing to
dowith it. I represent the township,”
Edwards stated.
“There's a lot of people that aren't
here tonight that have voiced their
opinion the other way and some
have even said to me a recreation
center is not possible,” he added.
“I'm elected to look out for the
interests of Plymouth Township, not
the city. We have worked with the
city on numerous projects and
numerous times we've ended up
paying the lion's share of the bill and
theywalk away,”Edwards said.
“I don't want to do anything with
the city. I really don't. They owe us
money and we're in a dispute over
that. We've been inmultiple disputes
over fire departments and every-
thing else,”Edwards said.
“I don't believe this proposal can
go (forward) and I don't see investing
the township'smoney in any authori-
ty,” Edwards said hotly. “As an elect-
ed official I don't like it when my
idea for a recreation center was
tossed aside in favor of moving the
PARCproject forward.”
Edwards had proposed a $1.9
million township-controlled recre-
ation department, with outdoor
fields and a facility “like Lifetime
Fitness,” an amphitheater and a
year-round park pavilion to be con-
structed with tax revenue. The
board members approved a $13,000
As an elected official I don't like it when
my idea for a recreation center was tossed aside
in favor of moving the PARC project forward.
”
State of City message is upbeat, positive
Journey of a lifetime
Local resident joins in
celebration of Mandela’s life
Township board rejects plan for Central school site
The Inkster Chamber of
Commerce has been forced to
reschedule the 15th Annual
Business
Community
Networking Mixer planned for
Jan. 28.
See page 2.
Celebrations this week of the
legacy Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
had a deeper and even more pro-
found meaning for one Romulus
resident.
Jacqueline Galloway Blake
embarked on a journey last month
that began 50 years ago as she
marched with Dr. King in front of
the Lincoln Memorial in
Washington, D.C. in 1963.
“I was just a youngster, I grew
up in New York, but my mother
made sure I was there for that
event,” she said.
She was also there for the
funeral and celebration of the life
of Nelson Mandela in South
Africa last month, a journey she
says that has forever changed her
life.
“When I saw the monuments,
saw the bullet holes in the church
ceiling where the anti-apartheid
activists would meet, I couldn't
help but think of the similarities
with Dr. King,” she said.
“Someday, I would like to do a
book about the similarities
between the two.”
Galloway Blake's interest in
black and multi-cultural history
led her to her teaching profession.
A 30-year resident of Romulus,
she is now an educational consult-
ant and storyteller and has pre-
sented programs and learning
consults at more than 400 schools
and libraries across the United
States.
When she heard the news of
Mr. Mandela's death, she said, she
knew, instantly, that she needed to
be among those mourning his
death and celebrating his life in
what she calledMother Africa.
“The drums called me to
Africa. I knew I wanted to be there
to celebrate the magnificent
example of humility and love of
Mr. Mandela. His life inspired me
to want to be a better person,” she
said.
“I knew I wanted to jump and
dance and sing and be a part of
the celebration of his personal
accomplishments, of his efforts to
heal theworld.”
Her spontaneous decision to
make the trip, she said, was guid-
ed by divine intervention nearly
daily. As she frantically searched
for her passport Dec. 8, a Sunday
evening, she finally located it, only
to find it had expired. During her
trip the next morning to the
Wayne County clerk's offices she
was informed it would take a min-
imum of two weeks to renew her
documents. Then she explained
the reasons for her trip and three
hours later, she had her renewed
passport inher hand.
Airfare was $7,000 and climb-
ing steadily when she attempted
to book her flight and there were
no hotels available. Then, she
said, she took one last chance at
the computer after arriving home
with her passport on Monday and
a new travel site popped up that
provided her a flight and a hotel
roomabout amile fromwhereMr.
Mandela would lie in state at a
cost of about $2,500.
She left the next afternoon, she
said, and on the 20-hour plane
ride, a flight attendant moved her
to first class where she was inter-
viewed and befriended by a group
of Dutch journalists.
That interview was one of sev-
eral she did during the trip with
television and news media from
several countries.
When she arrived in Pretoria
at about 2 a.m., she could see the
building whereMr. Mandela lay in
state and at 7 a.m. she was in a
miles-long line of well-wishers,
facing military police every few
feet. Mr. Mandela lay on a high hill
LeRoy D. Burcroff
Jacqueline Galloway Blake joins an anti-Apartheid activist exiled for 30
years outside Union Building, Pretoria, South Africa after filing past
Nelson Mandela's casket.
See
Journey,
page 2
See
Plan,
page 3